How Far Is Too Far?

G

Gus

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Would be interested to know what everybody thinks the effective gun range is for pheasants??
 
Easy one to answer since the only variables are gauge of gun, power of load, size and composition of shot, and choke. Let's see . . . uh . . . the answer is . . . damned if I know! :D
 
Since most folks are highly optimistic when judging the range of a made dead gamebird, the answer as to a maximum scattergun range might be....1" less than too far.
 
OldDublin said:
Since most folks are highly optimistic when judging the range of a made dead gamebird, the answer as to a maximum scattergun range might be....1" less than too far.
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Well said, I bet many people would be suprised at what 30yrds actually looks like out in the field most of the birds I have shot in the last 3 yrs were over a pointy Dog :D and ive never missed one of them :rolleyes:
 
GustavDaGSP said:
Well said, I bet many people would be suprised at what 30yrds actually looks like out in the field most of the birds I have shot in the last 3 yrs were over a pointy Dog :D and ive never missed one of them :rolleyes:
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:eek:Thats just way to funny:cheers:
 
I honestly dont think there is a good answer to your question; to many possibilities with the biggest being the skill of the shooter. (see Britchasers post). For me, I don't do well past 35 honest yards.
BobM
 
I personally try not to take a shot inside 20 yards or over probably 40ish. I'm sure I have taken slightly closer or slightly longer shots in the heat of the moment, but I try not to. This is with a 12ga, and #5. In the window of 20-40 yards, the birds are dead and fully edible.

Having a good dog that is hell-bent on retrieving extends your effective range a bit, and helps immensely when your shot at any range is slightly off-center, IMO. Not that you asked... :laugh:
 
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Something that may help you better judge distance is what i occasionally do when I'm out exercising the dog. I'll pick a small bush, tree etc as a mark and from there I'll pace off different distances and then look back at my starting marker. After a few times doing this to get accustomed, the next time I will pick out something in the distance and estimate the distance before I step it off to see how close I get.

Most people can duplicate a yard with one fairly good pace, so it should be reasonably close. Of course if you have a laser that would be even better. With enough practice you'd be surprised how good you can become.
 
I have a laser rangefinder and one year after hunting season I went out to an area that had a lot of ducks on it but that I could walk through w/o getting wet. I went for a stroll and as ducks flushed I would determine if they were close enough to me to feel comfortable shooting at them based on past success and I'd laser them to get a distance. I was surprised that the birds I was comfortable shooting at and killing were so far away. 50 yds looked fine to me but in reality I shouldn't shoot at birds that far away. Distances are deceiving and birds are often further away than you'd think.
By the way, playing golf has helped me judge 30-50 yd. distances much better. It hasn't helped my game but at least I know what those distances look like.
 
Practicing with my bow also helps with estimating distances while upland hunting. I have 20, 30, and 40 yard pins on my bow, and practice shooting targets at those distances. I think it helps carry over to upland, since I am accustomed to what 20, 30, and 40 yards "looks like" from a standing position.

For all other types of hunting besides upland, whenever it is practical, I pace off the distance to objects in my field of view so I have a good idea of what distance I am shooting. If no obvious objects are there, I will pace off a decoy or even jam a stick into the ground.
 
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I suspect that 30 yards was about the longest shot I took on pheasants last season. Most were inside 20 yards. With young pointing dogs I am only shooting pointed birds.
But a 20 ga with 6 shot, will take them down clean in the 45-50 hard range as long as it is not a straight away shot.
 
When I'm shooting heavy #4 lead I'm OK going out to 50 yards with my full choke. My Labs get on the downed bird real fast.:thumbsup:
 
Honestly if my dogs have been working a runner for a couple hundred yards and it flushes wild I'm still going to try and put it in the bag but I would guess I've never shot at anything over 50 yards. My ability to estimate range however leaves a lot to be desired.
 
I walk every morning on the track at a local college. This year they got a new artificial turf field with lots of numbers on it. As I walk, I look at the numbers and realize that I might have not judged distances well in the past. I have often not taken shots in the past because I thought the birds were out of range, but I may have been mistaken. I have determined I would be comfortable with 50 yard shots. I shoot #4 and 5 shot and have killed many birds at much further ranges. We hunt with dogs and do not loose many downed birds. There is nothing that bothers me more than downing a bird and not being able to find it.

You need to get on a football field or something where you can see the distances and imagine what a pheasant looks like at the various ranges.
 
Open Field vs. Cover

i would guess the majority of my shots on pheasants are around 25 yds out. Depends on the cover...creekside over a point can be 20 or sometimes less. I try to avoid those unless I am shooting Cyl/SK.

30 yds is a good average when hunting sloughs, creekside fields, tree lines etc.

What I found last season hunting Huns in some very open, short grass range lands is that I was routinely shooting birds at 30-40 yds. I paced using my GPS many of the birds I shot/shot at. The covey would often break 15 to 20 yds ahead of the point. With no landmarks to compare to for scale the birds in the air always appeared closer than what they were. I have since changed my choking to address these longer shots.

My rule is to try to limit my shots on pheasants to around 35 yds, but like someone mentioned earlier, that is tough to do when the pointer has worked that bird for 100yds.

I kill a bird or two every season at 50yds or so. It is always a good feeling. But the worst feeling is when I don't connect correctly at these long shots and the next 30 minutes is spent looking for a poorly hit rooster. That doesn't feel good at all. I try to limit myself.
 
I'll second the Toad. 20-40 yards is a good practical range--not too close to blast them to bits, not too far to make it iffy.
POL
 
To far is what I see waterfowl shooters take aim and fire, at least it is to me! I guess I'm conditioned to seeing birds going away fast, not the passing shots. Upland hunting I figure a guy gets plenty of 20 yard shots, with an improved cylinder you won't need any excuses. Waterfowl, I figure I need a range finder, but I see these guys drop em up there. I've also seen some long pheasant shots, to many, as soon as somebody drops one there will be a barrage of shots even farther, in the hope that one lucky pellet..... more likely the bird will fly off and become a feast for the predators, or picked up by a dog two sections away. If I can't get to 30 yards of an upland bird, I'm not trying. Waterfowl, silly me, about 30 is what I want there too, especially with the bastardization of steel shot. I have always found it strange that the range is alot closer than the shooter claims later. Pace off 30 yards and place a decoy, it looks a heck of a lot longer! and a lot of birds fall inside that decoy in the heat of combat.
 
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